Repeat
by OniZenmaru
Summary: Puella Magi AU. Yuri swears on his life that he'll save Flynn.


**A/N:** OKAY, WROTE IT. Obviously, _**HUGE**_ spoilers for PMMM. Enjoy your suffering.

* * *

_**-Jump 0-**_

_Yuri wants to crawl under a rock and die. It was bad enough that he'd been out for most of the school year, but to come back and be behind makes him feel terrible. It was pretty bad the first day; he couldn't keep up with anything, and he messed up so badly in math that he spent the rest of the period with his head down. Thankfully, some kind soul in his class helps him whenever he needs it without judging him. _

_The second says is slightly better, but he feels a bit awkward when the person helping him from the previous day tries to talk to him casually. What was his name? Flynn? That sounded about right. Flynn seemed nice enough, and even invited his friend Estelle over to talk with the two of them during lunch. It all just...made him feel uncomfortable._

_It wasn't that he didn't want friends, Yuri just feels that he doesn't have anything to offer them. Adjusting the bag on his shoulder, he thinks about how Flynn was probably being nice to him just because he was new, and that leaves a terrible taste in his mouth. Didn't people like that only last for a few days? Like after he'd get his bearings, he'd be left high and dry? _

_That certainly doesn't make him feel any better...in fact he feels much worse. He really was better off staying in the hospital, at least then he wouldn't have felt so-_

_**Useless...Better**_ _**off dead...**_

Stopping dead in his tracks, Yuri looks around in confusion. There wasn't anyone else here, so where did that voice come from? When he heard it once more, the space around him starts to distort, the buildings, road and sky taking on a form reminiscent of a Picasso painting. Small, unidentifiable creatures run past his feet, causing him to scurry backwards whenever they bumped into him

Panic sets in when he hears maniacal laughter in every direction, and from what he can tell there was nowhere for him to run. Is he...really going to die...? Yuri is only 14...he has so much more to do in life. Even if school sucks, this is...too cruel. He falls back against the ground, a sense of impending doom washing over him. Before completely resigning to his fate, something zip past his head and strike and oddly shaped tree in the distance.

When it screams, he feels like passing out, but instead he watches as two figures dart out from out of practically nowhere to attack said tree. Wait, he...he recognizes the figure clad in armor. Just to make sure he adjusts his glasses back into their proper spot, and sure enough, it is indeed Flynn. The blond's movements were elegant, and Yuri swears the boy is makes to movements seem easy.

Even if he's scared, Yuri doesn't look away.

When Flynn slams his sword into the tree one final time, it gives off a loud screech. The distorted scenery starts to return to normal, leaving Yuri standing in his original spot with a bewildered look on his face. He still watches Flynn, watches as the armor disappears from his body while he picks up something that looks like a black seed.

"Are you okay?" Yuri jumps when he hears a voice next to him, completely forgetting that Flynn hadn't been alone.

"Oh, um...yeah..." He addresses the girl standing beside him, recognizing her from the class two doors down from his.

"I do feel kind of bad," Crossing her arms, she cocks her hip to the side, a small smile playing on her lips, "Having Flynn take down that Witch all by himself, but someone had to protect you."

A Witch? Was that what the strange creature was? Still, Yuri has no idea what's going on, but his confusion calms down a bit when he sees a hand extend itself towards him. Flynn crouches in front of him, asking if he's all right and if he can walk. Yuri, being the dork that he is, can only nod as he takes the hand offered to him. When the two of them stand, their touch lingers for a few seconds before Yuri yanks his hand away.

"I'm sorry, I should probably explain." There's a hint of embarrassment in Flynn's voice, and he even rubs the back of his neck as he speaks, "Judith and I are Puella Magi, and we fight things called Witches that cause trouble around town."

That's a simple enough explanation...but it doesn't help him get over his shock. From that point on, Yuri isn't sure what to do with himself. Since he already knew their secret, he ends up following Flynn and Judith around, even if they were fighting Witches. He liked watching Flynn fight, and well...he really just liked being around Flynn. Judith teased him about it often, and the only thing Yuri could do was get irritated and deny her claims. It's a strange way to live, but Yuri finds it all so enjoyable.

Until it all comes crumbling down.

It happens all too fast; one moment Judith and Flynn are fighting a Witch, and the next Judith is lying on the ground motionless. Flynn had suffered a terrible wound to his arm and abdomen, but still wanted to fight. Yuri tries to stop him, but in the end, it isn't his place to. Flynn was the only one who could stop the Witch...and it's in that moment that Yuri realizes just how powerless he really is.

"You could help him you know."

He jumps at the voice that comes out of nowhere, pinpointing it to one of the many pieces of debris from the now ruined city. Sitting there was the small, white creature Flynn called 'Kyubey', its red, emotionless eyes causing him to look away briefly. Even if it seemed sweet, with its petite figure and fox like appearance, there was just something about it that didn't sit well with Yuri.

"He's going to die you know." Kyubey's face is expressionless as he speaks, "But you could help him. Would you like to make a contract with me?"

A wave of horror washes over him when he hears the blond yell in pain, and the sight of Flynn falling out of the sky and landing hard on the ground makes him rush over to his side. Yuri face contorts into a pained expression as he holds the blond, shoulder shaking in both anger and sorrow. He should've done something, he should've...he should've...Quickly he looks back over at Kyubey, teeth biting down on his bottom lip as a means to control himself.

"I...I'll make a contract...I want to redo my meeting with Flynn. Instead of being protected by him, I want to protect him..."

Kyubey tail just sways from side to side.

"The contract is made."

* * *

_**-Jump 2-**_

This...This isn't right.

The two of them had defeated Walpurgis Night, the very same Witch that had taken the life of Flynn in the previous timeline...so...why is Flynn lying on the ground in pain? They had taken out so many Witches before this, but it was the first time he had ever seen this. As Yuri kneels down next to his friend, he is once again overtaken by a sense of helplessness. The blond is clinching is Soul Gem tightly, and upon further inspection he see that it's almost turned completely black-

Oh no...He'd been told that Puella Magi are supposed to purify their Soul Gems with the Grief Seeds the Witches drop, lest it turn dark and..._something_ happen. But Yuri still doesn't understand...As far as he knew, Flynn's gem had been clean at the beginning of the fight. So why...? Yuri backs up when a black smoke emits from the blond's cracking gem, and when he sees it take a the shape of something hideous that extends to the sky, he stares in shock. It almost looks like...

"A...Witch...?"

"Correct."

Turning his head, he's once again met with Kyubey sitting nonchalantly on the rubble of the ruined city. To his horror, the white creature goes on to explain that _Witches are Puella Magi whose Soul Gems have dirtied from despair_. The entire time they had been killing...other people? But that can't be right...it just can't be. Looking over he still sees Flynn's body on the ground and thinks '_how can there be a Witch if Flynn is still here?_'

Yeah...there's no way Kyubey's words could be true, but when he brings it up he's hit with another hard truth. To prevent unnecessary injury, Kyubey had placed their souls inside the gems, thus why they are called _Soul Gems_. His body, Flynn's body and Judith's body were all nothing more than empty husks. Yuri can only stare blankly at the ground as he slowly started to put the pieces together.

They kill Witches to purify their Soul Gems...they turned into Witches if they didn't and if they did, someone would kill them. It was a disgusting cycle he wants nothing to do with. However, at the same time he knows there's probably no way to get out of it. It's wrong, so very wrong.

"You humans are all so emotional; thankfully it's that emotion that helps us-"

Yuri doesn't let Kyubey finish; with one swift movement, he slices its head clean off of its neck with his sword, but he knows it won't help the situation. If anything it extinguishes only a tiny bit of the anger he feels towards the creature. Why weren't they told of this beforehand? Gripping the handle of his sword, he makes a vow...

Next time...next time he'll make sure everyone knows.

* * *

_**-Jump 3-**_

"Are we seriously supposed to believe this guy?"

"I'm telling the truth. Why the Hell would I lie?"

Yuri stares at his comrades in frustration and disbelief. He had spoken nothing but the truth to them, and yet they all seem to treat his words as lies. Yuri at least thought that Estelle, who had become a Puella Magi this time around, would believe him. Instead, she seemingly takes Rita's side, a Puella Magi not even from their town.

Rita is a handful, and generally didn't deal with people in the most friendly of ways. For some reason Estelle had latched onto the girl, saying that she had seen a sadness in the small brunettes eyes that made her want to help her. Yuri really hadn't had any issue with Rita until this moment...

Estelle doesn't say a word and averts her eyes, Judith tries to play peacekeeper between him and Rita and Flynn looks conflicted. He pleads to them, but his cries fall a deaf ears. He's irritated that the people he trusts don't believe him, but at the same time he understands _why_ they don't believe him. Believing him meant accepting the fact that they were all doomed to die, that that all share the same fate of turning into the things they had been fighting against. No one would want that.

So he shuts his mouth.

And then Estelle turns into a Witch a few days later. Yuri had noticed that the poor girl had always been trouble by something, but given how she was, she never burdened anyone with her problems. The fight raged on for a good while, Rita trying her best to get through to Estelle even though Yuri knew it was useless. Once someone turned into a Witch, there was no turning back.

When the battle is over they all stay silent, and Yuri feels no satisfaction from being right. He makes a fist to try to control himself, and as nails dig into skin, he ignores the fact that he can feel blood running down his palm. It'll heal...the wounds on their bodies always heal quickly. He hates this, hates that he has to watch his friends suffer again while he can do absolutely nothing.

When he starts to speak, he notices Rita fall to her knees, her Soul Gem shattering into pieces before she hits the ground. He just stares at her body at first, and he's finally done processing that _Rita is dead_, panic starts to set in. Before Yuri can even act, a blur of blue fabric he knew all too well restrains his arms and legs. Judith approaches him slowly, a calm look on her face and her spear in hand.

"I'm sorry..." She says in a low tone, and Yuri can see her gripping her weapon tightly, "But if we're going to die anyways, isn't this better?"

Judith had always been the kind of person to keep herself together no matter what; so to see her crack, to see her eyes become misty as she readies the tip of her spear at the bracelet that holds his Soul Gem, Yuri can do nothing but ready himself. He doesn't fight back because she has a point...what other escape do they have from this? He doesn't want to become a Witch, but at the same time...he doesn't want to die.

Just before she strikes, he sees Flynn sprint over, sword stabbing the gem in her hair with pinpoint accuracy. When the ribbons restraining him disappear, Yuri feels the pit of his stomach drop. He approaches Flynn slowly, watching as he leans against his sword and cast his gaze downward, blond locks covering his face.

"This is wrong...this is..." When Yuri gets close enough, he can see his friend shaking.

Placing his hand on his shoulder, Yuri tells him that the only thing they can do now is keep fighting. They really have no other choice...but he reassures him that if it's the two of them, they could do it. As Flynn looks up at him, his face is still distraught, but a small smile spreads across his lips. That's right...if Yuri wanted to protect Flynn, he'd have to fight. And fight they did.

When Walpurgis Night shows up, their fight lasted a good hour before the Witch went down, but in the process, they had severely dirtied their Soul Gems. As Yuri lies next to Flynn in the rubble of their ruined town, he feels like all their efforts had been for nothing. With their gems so dirty, the two of them would no doubt turn into Witch, and he's sure some other Puella Magi from out of town would come to take them down.

The endless cycle would continue on...

When he feels something touch his gem, he instantly looks over at Flynn. Yuri watches with wide eyes as the blond presses a Grief Seed against his gem, a smile on his face the entire time. It was Estelle's Grief Seed. No, he...he should be using that for his own Soul Gem and not his. The blond apologizes for lying about having one, and it's the furthest thing from Yuri's mind at the moment.

"Flynn, you-"

"I have a favor to ask you...You can travel back in time, right...?"

Yuri nods, not liking where their conversation is going.

"Then please...go back and stop me from becoming a Puella Magi...It might not stop all of this suffering, but..." Flynn still smiles at him, but it's a sad smile, one that causes Yuri's chest to ache.

He had failed, once again, to save the person who means the most to him. Next time...next time for sure he'll be able to save Flynn. He knows what to do now. When the blond takes his hand, Yuri doesn't hesitate to squeeze it. The other boy's grip is so weak against his.

"Please..." There's pain behind Flynn's words, but he never stops smiling, "I don't want to turn into a Witch..."

He understands the meaning of those words all too well. Choking back the lump in his throat, Yuri picks up his neglected sword. He doesn't want to do this, but it's Flynn's last request...Aligning the tip of the sharp blade with the Soul Gem on his friend's chest, he forces himself to keep his eyes open. Yuri would burn this image into his memory...so he would never forget the promise he had made to Flynn.

Yuri shatters the Soul Gem...and doesn't realize until it's over that he's screaming.

* * *

_**-Jump 99-**_

Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

It's the only thing Yuri can do. Whenever he thinks he has successfully stopped Flynn from becoming a Puella Magi, something happens and he does. So Yuri repeats. It isn't until he kills the boy with his own hands that he figures it out...he needs to do this alone. From that point on he has never sought help from the others, has taken out Witches by himself and had completely closed himself off to the people who had once been his friends.

The only thing he regrets it having Flynn look at him like he is the villain; he's seen the look time and time again, and it cuts him deep. But he tells himself to keep going, because he's doing the right thing...he's protecting the person he cares about. Even if Flynn comes to hate him, Yuri will accept it as long as the boy is safe.

Much like so many times in the past, he's the only one left in the town to defeat Walpurgis Night. A Witch had beheaded Judith and Rita had scarified herself to defeat Estelle's Witch, so Estelle wouldn't be lonely in death. It's fine not having them around to fight as well, and if anything he foresaw it happening at some point. Even if it sounded cold, he's been through enough to know.

Standing atop of one of the many buildings, he waits for that damnable Witch to come. It's always at the same time and same place. Most of the town has been evacuated due to a storm warning caused by it, which is one less thing to worry about. Walpurgis Night is a Witch that doesn't hide in a barrier, making it completely visible to normal humans. Everything is set up, so when he sees a familiar fog start to roll in, he readies himself.

It only takes a few seconds for him to change into his battle gear; there's no armor like Flynn's, allowing him to be quick on his feet since his time stop ability only last but so long. His glasses had been discarded after his third jump, Yuri fixing his eyesight with his own magic, as well as the illness that had landed him in the hospital. His long, dark hair blows in the wind freely, the ponytail that kept it in place long gone.

Yuri doesn't flinch when a procession of oddly shaped carnival animals waltz past him, all of which are colored brightly and tugged banners and wagons filled with equally warped creatures, he doesn't move. They aren't the reason he's here...and then he spots it. Clad in blue and white, floating upside down as the gears under its dress rotate, red lips open and laughing into the air...it's Walpurgis Night.

Yuri begins his assault.

When it comes to attacking the Witch directly, he sets off strategically placed bombs and cannons, and when he needs a bigger explosion, he fires a rocket launcher at it. He has to thank the military and defense force for having so many in stocks, as well as his own infinite storage capacity due to his magic. When Walpurgis Night sends out familiars, he fights those head on, utilizing his sword to slice them to pieces. He hates this part, hates that the things he's fighting look like his fallen comrades, but he still continues to fight.

He isn't even sure how much times passes...Minutes? Hours maybe? All he knows is that he hasn't given the Witch _a single dent_. Then the worst possible thing happens; he's knocked against a pile of rubble, coughing up blood from the impact. Just as he's about to stop time again, he notices the sand in the shield on his arm is leaking out. No...no, no, no, this can't be happening. Without his ability to stop time, he's only left with one option:

A repeat.

That would've been fine if he had realized that he's only been making the situation worse with each jump. Kyubey had told him that each time he uses his power to go back, he's inadvertently creating parallel universes, all of which cause the karma around Flynn to accelerate. In short, he's been making Flynn the strongest Puella Magi the entire time...but also the strongest Witch.

He couldn't keep doing that to Flynn...he just can't. Yuri is at his breaking point, and when he notices his leg trapped under debris, he feels his chest tighten. The hope that had been driving him all this time is starting to slip, made much more apparently by how dirty his Soul Gem is becoming. He can't keep going on like this...not when it only leads to things becoming worse. Closing his eyes, he feels like giving up; he's in pain, he's exhausted and he wants nothing more than for it all to be over.

If anything, he regrets not apologizing to Flynn properly...

"Yuri?"

He instantly opens his eyes at the sound of his name being called, eyes falling on the person who isn't supposed to be there. Flynn crouches down in front of him and gently takes his hand, a small smile on his lips as he apologizes to him. What? What is he apologizing for? If anything, Yuri should be the one to do that. He's failed the boy time and time again, so it's only right for Yuri to do so.

"I understand now...You've been through so much just to protect me. It's okay to rest now..." Flynn gently lets go of his hand and beings it up to his cheek, his thumb caressing the side of his lip to seemingly wipe away the blood there.

"Flynn-"

"I'll take care of the rest, okay?"

_No...not again_. Yuri struggles in his spot, but only ends up hurting himself more. He pleads with Flynn to not do anything, but it's too late. He can only watch helplessly as Kyubey asks the blond what his wish is, and with a quick glance from over his shoulder, Flynn once again apologizes but also thanks him.

"I wish..."

_**I wish to erase all witches from existence before they're even born. **_

_**Every witch in the universe, from the past and the future, with my own hands...**_

* * *

**A/N:** I'm so sorry if this sucks OTL


End file.
